Category: Vietnamese

Categories
Vietnamese

Tam Tam – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

The seafood spring rolls ($12) were good, with a dense and umami filling covered in a light and oily external shell. Just as they should be.

The special beef noodle soup/pho ($18) had a bit of everything wtihin the usual suspects, and was pretty good. I didn’t love the beef balls, but it’s rare to find a place that does every component well.

I have absolutely no problems with the food here. I think it’s a good pho for Parramatta, especially since my previous favourite Lee Chef has been closed for years now with no signs of anything good popping up in its place.

I have no problems with the service either – we rocked up quite late after work, essentially 15 minutes before their listed closing time, and they served us with speed and friendliness.

What I did think was unfortunate was the restaurant’s location and parking situation. My first visit to Tam Tam was actually the second time I tried to go. Its location in the centre of Parramatta means that there is no free street parking nearby, meaning that any meal here necessitates a snake-like crawl through the nearby Eat St parking lot and a minimum extra $3 charge. And I know that a lack of free parking disincentivises private car usage and incentivises public transport, resulting in what is probably a net environmental and economical good for society. It’s just annoying when you work in the next suburb and have to pay $3 to park to eat a $18 bowl of pho.

Tam Tam
41 Phillip St, Parramatta NSW 2150
0466 222 699

Categories
Vietnamese

Love Mi – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

I saw and smelled one of my juniors eating the most seductive banh mi ever on a recent night shift, and couldn’t make my way home without getting one myself.

I stopped at Burwood banh mi spot Love Mi, a place I had seen before on social media but never eaten at, parked precipitously on the street (arriving at 8:45AM, the parking becomes ticketed after 9AM Monday to Saturday), and waited 8 minutes for two rolls, returning to my car at 8:56AM, 4 minutes before a potential parking ranger could fined me.

I had a banh mi thit ($8.80), a classic cold sliced pork roll, and a nem nuong banh mi ($11.80).

The banh mi thit ($8.80) did not meet my expectations for taste, moistness, and price. Though extremely well packaged wrapped in paper and enclosed in a cardboard box, it felt dry on the inside, with an inadequate volume of salad, nor amount of Vietnamese mayo or pate to create that wonderful moist and fatty texture. It’s not the worst pork roll I’ve ever had (hello Northmead NSW), but doesn’t rank anywhere near the best.

The nem nuon banh mi ($11.80) was a stronger showing, owing to the significantly jucier and more flavourful warm nem nuong, which meant that the smaller amount of salad filling at Love Mi was less damaging.

Overall I’ve definitely had better for cheaper (including at the corner of Burwood Road and Park Ave for $2.40 in the late 90s). My partner and I finished both of Love Mi’s rolls, but they didn’t quite hit the spot. I wonder if they spent less effort on packaging they could spend more on the food itself. I don’t have any plans to return.

Love Mi Burwood
Shop 2/2a Elsie St, Burwood NSW 2134
0466 183 338

Categories
Vietnamese

Mê Bánh Mì – Ashfield NSW Restaurant Review

These were the first banhs mi I had in the local area after moving to the Inner West. They were good, but I don’t know that I would say that they are as affordable as the headline on the website suggests.

The crispy pork roll ($11) was good, but $11. It had a good density of fillings when felt in the hand.

The BBQ pork roll ($10) had a unique and pleasant flavour that I’m having difficulty recalling whilst writing this. Worth a try, I think, but at $10-11 a roll I’m going to walking up the street to one of the multitude of other banh mi shops next time.

Me Banh Mi Ashfield
Shop 2/250 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131

Categories
Vietnamese

Madam Ky – Canterbury NSW Restaurant Review

Both the bun bo hue ($18) and the pho dac biet ($19) at Madam Ky were really good. The flavours were good, the servings were absolutely huge, and they were both jam packed with an extraordinary amount of meat, so much so that we, two hungry adults, really struggled to finish them.

My only complaint, which applies more to the pho dac biet ($19) than the bun bo hue, is that it wasn’t hot enough to really put in the bean sprouts without significantly dropping the temperature of the bowl, which is a problem for me because I LOVE my bean sprouts.

An added bonus is that Madam Ky does these pretty good boxes of frozen pho ($7.80), which you can heat up yourself with a microwave and some water at home. They come with not enough beef brisket, but the flavour is good and the price is as well.

Important note: This restaurant is now closed prior to the publication of this review. The same group owns Pho Vien at 283 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield, which as I understand is essentially the same restaurant with a different name.

RIP.

Madame Ky
Shop 10/211 Canterbury Rd Canterbury, Campsie, NSW, Australia, New South Wales

Categories
Bakery Vietnamese

Nhu Y King’s Hot Bread – Ermington NSW Restaurant Review

Nhu Y King’s banh mis with double meat kept me going through never ending weekend ward rounds on the aged care inpatient team, and I thank them for that.

The size and price ratio was good, as was their 7-day opening schedule, something that XCel Roll could not compete with.

(I should note that as of 2024 the size and quality at XCel Roll Auburn has dropped off significantly, which is a shame, because they used to hold the crown. I don’t know if XCell Roll Parramatta has suffered the same drop in quality, as I’ve not been back in some time.)

Nhu Y King’s Hot Bread
23 Betty Cuthbert Ave, Ermington NSW 2115